A New York family is celebrating as their baby girl is finally home after 146 days in a hospital neonatal intensive care unit.
On September 17, Freeport residents LaTashia Morris, 32, and David Taylor, 33, welcomed their “miracle” daughter, Trinity Alexandria Rose Taylor, home for the first time.
“It’s not something that was guaranteed. We give God thanks, first and foremost, that she’s even able to make it through this and be able to be home with us,” Taylor told ABC News.
Trinity was born at 26 weeks gestation on April 24 at Catholic Health’s Mercy Hospital in Rockville Centre, New York. Her due date was July 31, and she weighed only 1 pound, 14 ounces, arriving nearly three months early.
Trinity suffered difficulties with her lungs, eyes, and heart due to her early birth, but doctors and nurses at Mercy Hospital’s Level III NICU never gave up hope of giving her a fighting chance.
Trinity’s parents revealed while she was in the NICU, nurses would play “Hakuna Matata” from Disney’s “The Lion King” for her, which rapidly became one of her favorite songs.
“One day, she was a little fussy, so one of the nurses put on Disney music for her and when ‘Hakuna Matata’ came on, she was, like, all smiles,” Morris recounted to ABC. “Every time that song came on, she was all smiles and it would also help to relax her and she kind of just responded well to the song.”
Her parents are not the only ones who are relieved by her discharge.
“I’m incredibly proud of her resilience, her fight, and her quiet determination,” Dr. Swarna Devarajan, a director of neonatology at Mercy Hospital, said in a statement.
“Seeing her finally go home, cradled in the arms of her mom and dad, is the kind of moment we all hope for,” Devarajan continued. “Trinity’s remarkable transformation is a powerful reflection of what advanced NICU care can achieve — but even more so, it’s a testament to the strength and spirit of one incredible little girl.”
READ ALSO: Meet the mompreneur working to provide breast milk for motherless babies
Trinity’s medical issues are expected to improve as physicians monitor her progress.
“She is healthy,” Morris said of what doctors told them about Trinity. “She’s a strong girl, and these are kind of things that she’ll grow out of as she gets older and continues to gain weight and continues to mature.”
The couple thanked the hospital employees and, in particular, the nurses at Mercy Hospital.
“They really treated Trinity like she was their own child. The love they had for her, the care that they gave her was outstanding,” said Morris. “We knew that she was in good hands. … They were strangers. Now, I consider every one of the nurses in the NICU as family. They are absolutely amazing.”
Morris and Taylor are thrilled to begin a new chapter at home with their “sassy” and “feisty” Trinity, who weighs 11 pounds and 9.9 ounces.
“She has shown us the true definition of what strength is,” Morris said. “She was small but mighty, and she’s our little miracle baby.”
READ ALSO: Baby delivered after mother was declared brain dead is still fighting for his life
